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COPYRIGHT DEFCSm 

































































































































































The iMagic House 



HAUL FRAZEE 






























“Sometimes our beds will run away 
Story of Peter and the Giant—Page 48 





















THE 

MAG/C HOUSE 


By Louise HarveyButtfer 

Illustrations by Hazelfrazee 



CHICAGO 

c c 


U O. 



















THE MAGIC HOUSE 
Copyright 1928 
By Albert Whitman & Co. 






OTHER WHITMAN TITLES 

OFT-TOLD TALE OF LINCOLN 
By Mollie C. Winchester 

THE JOLLY LITTLE CLOWN 
By Florence Fairchild Pease 

RED AND GOLD STORIES 
By Frances Kerr Cook 


“A JUST RIGHT BOOK” 
Printed in the U. S. A. 


DEC 29 I5?9 

2518 


©CIA 











Once upon a time, when I was a little girl, 
I lived down by the big ocean. My playmate 
was another little girl who lived by the big 
ocean, too. 

Every day we played along the smooth, 
sandy beach, threw pebbles into the clear 
water, played “catch the waves,” built great 
sand castles and made sand pies. 

But my little playmate loved best to just 
sit and watch the sea gulls as they soared 
way up high in the air almost touching the 
sky; loved to listen to the sea wash up on 
the shore. She loved the woods, too, and 
knew just where the wild flowers grew, their 
names and where to find them; just where 
each woodland path led and what the birds 
were calling. 

By and by she grew up to be a librarian. 
Then, on bright clear Saturday afternoons 
she gathered about her many happy little 

5 









children from all parts of the village to tell 
them stories; stories she had heard the waves 
whisper to her long, long before; stories she 
had learned from the flowers, the birds, and 
the forest folk. 

Now she has two dear little children of her 
own, Bobby and Betty, who love to hear the 
same stories of the sea fairies who live down 
deep in the sea, the Little Christmas Tree, 
Christopher Cricket, and the Fairy Ring. 

That you, too, may hear these stories, their 
mother, who was really my little playmate 
of long ago, has written some of them down 
on paper, touched them with her magic wand 
and turned them into this little book for 
you; so, 

“If you believe in fairies 
As I truly hope you do, 

In the Land of Make Believe, 

This book was made for you.” 

Adelene J. Pratt 







CONTENTS 

Page 


Introduction, Adelene J. Pratt. 5 

The Magic House. 11 

The Sea Fairy. 18 

The Sea Fairy’s Adventure . 26 

The Sea Fairy’s New Home. 32 

The Sea Fairy’s Children. 39 

Peter And The Giant. 45 

The Cloud Fairies .69 

The Christmas Story . 81 

The Fairy Ring. 94 

The Little Blue Man.107 

Hilda Watt .115 

Button—Button—Who Has The Button?.127 

Sir Peter Swizzle .137 


7 
























LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 


Page 

“Sometimes our beds will run away”.Frontispiece 

It didn’t take very long to build the house. 10 

Mother wouldn’t let him come into the house. 13 

Soon little Gruff was a mass of suds. 15 

She had many fish to wait on her. 19 

The driver was a hard shell crab. 20 

“Good evening, beautiful queen,” said he. 21 

He spilled tea all over his nice new clean shirt front. 23 

“The king will be riding a spouting whale”. 25 

She slipped into his skin. 27 

Out it came, dripping wet, a wonderful full moon. 29 

She was tossed way up. 30 

She took all her lovely gauze dresses. 33 

The preacher was a funny old turtle. 35 

Ten darling little babies, all asleep. 37 

They couldn’t walk one step. 40 

“No, I mean to take care of them all, myself”. 41 

Where they played about, so happy to be free. 43 

A clown sold colored candies. 47 

There he was, out under the window. 49 

A story the moon had told him one night. 51 

He had saved them from some troublesome woodchucks. . 53 

8 























Page 

There was the tallest man he had ever seen. 55 

Threw him into a box. 57 

He was soon snoring loudly. 59 

The giant’s wife gave him a candle. 61 

She called loudly, “Salamander!”. 65 

Down in the ocean Salamander fell. 67 

Perched on the camel’s back were two tiny fairies. 71 

There she keeps all the little stars polished brightly. 73 

They love to peep down through the cracks. 75 

Shadow landed on the edge of a chimney. 77 

She jumped nimbly ashore. 79 

“Why, it’s a little pine tree”. 83 

She loved the cold and frosty nights. 89 

She reached out her arms so lovingly. 93 

What did he see?. 95 

A bright green frog was beating time. 97 

Then came the Fairy Queen. 99 

They danced and danced.101 

Away they all scampered.103 

Home, to the foot of the tree. ..105 

Christopher Cricket was peeling potatoes.Ill 

Until a sudden gust of wind blew her away.117 

The fairy steering her to her own front gate.133 

Then Mother Rabbit tucked them all in their comfortable 
little beds .151 


9 



























It didn’t take very long to build the house. 

10 












































































The £Magic House 


Once upon a time, very near the big 
ocean, lived a little boy and his sister, 
Bobby and Betty. 

They were good children and they 
played happily together. Their only 
playmate was a little raggedy dog. 
He was named “Gruff,” because he 
growled at every one who came near 
the children. 

Such a dirty little dog he was!—so 
dirty that Mother and Father would¬ 
n’t let him come into the house, and 
he had to sleep in a box under the 
back porch. 

Bobby and Betty couldn’t bear to 

go indoors and leave him outside; so 
11 


12 


THE MAGIC HOUSE 


they decided to build a tiny play 
house in the back yard, where they 
could all live together, at least all day. 

They found plenty of old boxes and 
boards along the beach. These they 
pulled home in a little wagon. Father 
gave them nails and a hammer; so it 
didn’t take very long to build the 
house. 

It had a window that really opened, 
and a door with a rusty hinge; a door 
knocker, and even a chimney made 
out of a tomato can. 

All summer long they played, in 
and out of the little house. Often they 
had their luncheon there, eating it on 
a tiny table made out of a square hat 
box that had been washed in by the 
waves. 

Gruff always shared the meal and 


THE MAGIC HOUSE 


13 



sat at the table with Bobby and Betty. 

Then when supper time came and 
Mother called them into the big house, 
they would put Gruff in his little straw 
bed, now in the play house, where he 
slept until morning. 

The days were growing cold. Win¬ 
ter was coming. What would they 
do then about the little playmate? 
They wanted so very much to take 
him in by the nice warm kitchen fire! 












14 


THE MAGIC HOUSE 


“I have it!” said Bob. “Let’s give 
him a bath—then Mother won’t 
mind.” 

So Betty ran into the big house and 
brought out the little tub Aunt Minty 
had given her for Christmas, a bath 
towel and a cake of fine scented soap 
that Mother kept in the guest room! 

Bob brought some nice warm water 
in a pail, and soon little Gruff was a 
mass of sweet smelling soap suds. But 
when Bob lifted him up to put him, 
into the tub he trembled with fear, 
and begged in the most pitiful voice, 
“Please, Bob, don’t put me in the tub! 
I’m so afraid of water—my Father 
and Mother never liked it and I don’t 
either!” 

Bob dropped him quickly. Both he 
and Betty were so frightened at first 


THE MAGIC HOUSE 


15 



that they didn’t know what to do, for 
they never expected to hear a dog 
talk! But poor little Gruff looked so 
helpless and unhappy that it seemed 
silly to be afraid of him. They began 
to smile again in their usual happy 
way. “Can you really talk, Gruff?” 
they demanded. “We didn’t know 
dogs could talk!” 

“Yes, I can talk,” Gruff answered, 
“but only when I’m in this little house, 
for it’s a magic house, you know. The 
boards and boxes you built it of came 








16 


THE MAGIC HOUSE 


out of the sea, and they had been 
washed in by the waves. The mer¬ 
maids had touched them with their 
fairy wands and made them en¬ 
chanted!” 

This was certainly exciting! Bob 
and Betty forgot all about Gruff’s 
bath, for which he was thankful, and 
after he shook himself three times he 
was perfectly dry and quite himself 
again. 

“Tell us about the mermaids, 
Gruff!” they pleaded. But Gruff shook 
his head. “Not tonight,” he said. 
“You’ll have to wait until tomorrow. 
Your Mother is calling now.” 

True enough, Mother was calling, 
and they had to leave him. They bade 
him goodnight and ran off to their 
suppers, their little snow white beds 


THE MAGIC HOUSE 


17 


and the land of dreams. They thought 
morning would never come, but it did, 
and true to his promise, Gruff told 
them the story of “The Sea Fairy.” 






T he Sea Fairy 

Many, many years ago there lived 
way down in the bottom of the sea, a 
very beautiful sea fairy, with long 
raven-black hair. 

She lived in a lovely castle built of 
colored rocks, with sea weed growing 
all over it. 

She had many fish to wait on her 
and take care of her. They all loved 
her dearly, for she was as charming 
and kind as she was beautiful. 

Every day she would go for a long 
drive, out through the channel and 
currents, riding in a chariot made of a 
large pink shell, and drawn by two 
large horse shoe fish. The driver was 

a little old hard shell crab, who sat 

18 



She had many fish to wait on her. 

19 







































































































































20 


THE MAGIC HOUSE 



The driver was a hard shell crab. 


ever so stiffly on a seat cut from a 
large piece of coral. 

She always wore a dress of filmy 
gauze, and a starfish in her crown. 
In her hand she carried a long golden 
wand given to her when she was tiny 
by an old, old fairy. 

She was happy as the day was long, 
but she was lonely too. One day when 
she was sitting in front of the open 


















THE SEA FAIRY 


21 



“Good, evening, beautiful queen,'* said he. 


fire in one of the rooms of her castle, 
wishing she had some one to play 
with, and to ride about with her, she 
heard a gentle knock. 

“Who’s there?” she called. Out 
came a tiny snail from under the 
hearth. “Good evening, beautiful 
queen,” said he, taking off his horn 
rimmed spectacles, “why do you look 
so sad?” 

“Because I am lonely,” she replied. 
“Won’t you sit down and chat with 
me? I will clap my hands and my 
attendants will bring us a cup of tea 













22 


THE MAGIC HOUSE 


and some nice fresh molasses cake. 
We can talk better after we have had 
a bite to eat and some tea to drink.” 

She had hardly spoken when in 
came a tall eel carrying a wonderful 
tray made of mother-of-pearl, and on 
it two of the thinnest cups and sau¬ 
cers that were ever seen, steaming 
hot tea and delicious gingery smell¬ 
ing cake. The little snail was not 
accustomed to such dainty service, 
and he spilled his tea all over his nice 
new clean shirt front. 

The sea fairy sipped her tea and 
pretended not to see her companion’s 
distress, so that soon he was at ease, 
and he began to tell her why he had 
come—in answer to her wish. 

“I come from the king of all the 
fish,” he explained. “Like your own 


THE SEA FAIRY 


23 



He spilled tea all over his nice new clean shirt front. 

self, he lives a lonely life. He rides 
about on a great big fish, always hop¬ 
ing a find a mate. 

“If you will follow my instructions, 
doing exactly as I say, you will find 
him at the end of the day, where the 
tide changes back and forth. 

“First, you must find a large fish, 
cut off his head and dress up in his 
long shiny skin; then, go out with the 






24 


THE MAGIC HOUSE 


tide and wait for the moon to bring 
you back again. The king will be on 
the top of a very large wave, riding 
a spouting whale. Don’t lose your 
head, but watch your chance and 
swim up with the misty spray.” 

With these words, the little snail 
made a low bow and disappeared. 

“Oh, oh, oh,” Bob and Betty inter¬ 
rupted eagerly, “did the sea fairy 
queen do what the little snail told 
her to?” 

“Wait and see,” Gruff replied, “I 
must eat my breakfast first. I’m so 
hungry, I must have at least a drink 
of milk.” Betty carried the dishes to 
the big house when he had finished, 
and lost no time in running back to 
the Magic House to hear how the sea 
fairy found the king of all the fish. 


THE SEA FAIRY 


25 



“Ready now, Gruff ?” she asked 
politely. 

Little Gruff scratched his head with 
his hind paw thoughtfully, then he 
continued his story. 






T/ze Sea Fairy 9 s Adventure 


The sea fairy was up with the sun, 
bathed and dressed, and slipped out 
of the castle so quietly that no one 
heard a sound. She hid behind a big 
rock and waited until an enormous 
fish came swimming along. Quickly 
she touched him with her wand, cut 
off his head, slipped into his skin, and 
started off to find the tides. 

It was easy to glide through the 
water now, and soon she came to a 
big sign, “THIS WAY TO THE 
UNDERTOW,” nailed on an old log. 
She knew she would find the tides 
there, so she hurried along—only 
nineteen minutes more, and there she 

was, just in time to catch the rising 

26 


THE SEA FAIRY’S ADVENTURE 


27 



tide. It was going in and she went 
along with it, way up on the shore. 
Such fun riding on the waves, and 
then high and dry on the sand! 

There she sat and looked about, 
waiting for the tide to turn. It 
seemed hours, and she became some¬ 
what impatient, for you see she was 
not very comfortable on land in the 
fish’s skin. 

























28 


THE MAGIC HOUSE 


She wiggled about, turned and 
twisted—it was tiresome, to say the 
least. Then it began to grow dark. 
Suddenly a very bright light shone 
back of the ocean, growing brighter 
and brighter, until all of a sudden the 
tiniest spot of gold appeared. It grew 
and grew, first very slowly, then all 
of a sudden, pop, out it came, dripping 
wet, a wonderful full moon—smiling 
at her, too. 

Then a large wave came way up, 
and another, then each wave grew 
smaller and smaller, so she decided it 
was time to return to the sea. 

And she wasn’t a second too soon, 
for the tide was just going out and she 
realized that at last it was time to 
meet the king. 

Down, down, and under she went. 


THE SEA FAIRY'S ADVENTURE 


29 



Out it came, dripping wet, a wonderful full moon. 


Then whirl, whirl, whirl and a sudden 
jerk! She was tossed way up into the 
spray; and there in the moonlight 
was the biggest fish she had ever seen, 
drifting in the path of the moon, and 
riding on his back was,—why, some 
one like herself, some one with raven 
hair, playing on a silver wind harp. 
The companion she had longed for! 

He looked at her quite as wistfully 













30 


THE MAGIC HOUSE 



She was tossed way up. 

as she did at him, and her heart filled 
with joy. Without a word, they 
rushed into each other’s arms. They 
forgot all their loneliness, and re¬ 
membered only their happiness in 
finding each other. 

Gruff paused. “Go on, Gruff,” 
Betty urged, “tell us what became of 
the sea queen after she found the sea 
king!” 





THE SEA FAIRY’S ADVENTURE 


31 


It was raining outside, and Gruff 
was glad to have the children inside 
the Magic House with him, where it 
was warm and cozy. 

“All right,” he agreed. “I know 
you’ll especially like this.” 







The Sea Fairy’s New Home 

The king had the biggest castle, so 
he took his queen home to live with 
him, and all her fish attendants went 
with her, and she took all her lovely 
gauze dresses. 

Such good times as they had! Tea 
parties and picnics, and all the cakes 
and sweets they wanted! 

Every Sunday they went to church, 
the prettiest church way down in a 
hollow. All the fish were there and 
many sea animals, dogfish and catfish 
and sea spiders. The preacher was a 
funny old turtle who read all his ser¬ 
mons out of an old, old book that he 
had found in a boat that had lost its 
way and fallen down to the bottom 
of the sea. 


32 

































































































































34 


THE MAGIC HOUSE 


The queen lived happily with her 
king for a long, long time. Her happi¬ 
ness would have been quite perfect if 
it had not been for one wish which 
she cherished way down deep in her 
heart. 

One day as she sat all alone waiting 
for the king to return home after a 
race he was having with a shark, she 
heard a queer tapping sound, and 
turning her head slowly, what do you 
think she saw? 

Yes, the same timid little snail she 
had seen long ago, coming out from 
under her hearth! 

“How do you do,” she greeted him 
cordially. “Where have you been all 
this time? Sit down and make your¬ 
self quite at home.” 

The little snail sat down wearily. 


THE SEA FAIRY’S NEW HOME 


35 



The preacher was a funny old turtle. 

He was very tired and glad to be 
made so welcome. 

“You are very happy,” he said, “and 
you seem contented. Is there never 
a wish in your heart?” 

The queen burst into tears. “How 
did you guess?” she asked. “So many 
times Fve wished we had some little 
children to enjoy all our pleasures 
with us. How we should love them!” 

“You shall have your wish,” the 
snail promised. 







36 


THE MAGIC HOUSE 


The queen was so overcome she 
could hardly express her gratitude 
and before she could ask any ques¬ 
tions, the snail made a low bow as 
before, and disappeared. 

Later the king arrived, and as he 
had beaten the shark in the race, he 
was very proud. 

As soon as he had taken off his spurs 
and refreshed himself with a drink of 
ice water, the queen told him the good 
news the snail had brought. 

He was as pleased as she was, and 
they talked it over and wondered 
when the babies would arrive, and 
what they should call them, and 
where they should send them to 
school! 

It was late, time to go to bed. 

Soon every one in the castle was 
sound asleep. 


THE SEA FAIRY’S NEW HOME 


37 



Ten darling little babies, all asleep. 


Suddenly the queen was awakened 
by hearing the most beautiful music. 
At first it seemed to be way off in the 
distance, then it came nearer and 
nearer, floating right in through the 
open window; and with it a very dim 
light, just a glow that seemed to come 
in through the room and pass on out 
through the other side of the house. 

Then the music ceased. It was quiet 

















38 


THE MAGIC HOUSE 


again, but a wonderfully sweet odor 
remained, a blend, it seemed, of the 
loveliest flowers, roses and violets, 
pansies and lilies, perhaps. 

And next morning what do you 
think they found? Babies, ten dar¬ 
ling little babies, all fast asleep in the 
daintiest little blue cradles! 

“Oh, don’t stop, Gruff,” Bob and 
Betty both begged excitedly. “We 
want to hear more about the babies.” 

“Very well,” Gruff said, and he con¬ 
tinued his story. 




The Sea Fairy's Children 

The king and queen could hardly 
believe their eyes! Ten darling little 
pink cradles like delicate shells, and 
in each one a little baby, wrapped 
in a soft white blanket. 

Such fun as they had watching them 
have their warm milk out of funny 
round bottles! Of course, all the 
queen’s attendants wanted to be 
nursemaids, but the queen said, “No, 
indeed, I mean to take care of them 
all by myself!” She did, too, and very 
good care she gave them, never leav¬ 
ing them until they were big enough 
to look after themselves. 

Then one day the king decided it 
was time they started to walk, so he 

39 


40 


THE MAGIC HOUSE 



came into the nursery where they 
always played; and the queen set 
them on the floor, first one, then an¬ 
other. But what do you suppose? 
They couldn’t walk one step, they just 
flopped over on their little fat 
stomachs. 

Why? Why, because they had no 
legs, just fins and long bodies like the 

















No, I mean to take care of them all, myself.” 


41 


lljllillii' 



























































































































42 


THE MAGIC HOUSE 


fish, but head and arms like real 
babies. The queen started to cry, but 
the babies didn’t seem to mind—in¬ 
deed, they seemed to think it was 
some new kind of a game. 

“Don’t cry, beloved one,” the king 
said to the queen, and he told her that 
the babies were really little mermaids 
who could swim like fish and yet be 
like real people. The queen felt some¬ 
what comforted, and couldn’t help 
but laugh at the comical antics of the 
jolly babies. A few days later, when 
the king and queen took them out in 
the garden for a frolic, what do you 
suppose they did? Those babies swam 
right off in the water, up, up, through 
the waves, and into the sunshine, 
where they played about on top of the 
water, so happy to be free and in the 
open air. 


THE SEA FAIRY’S CHILDREN 


43 



Where they played about, so happy to be free. 


And when they came back, they 
made the king and queen promise to 
let them go out every moonlight 
night to float on the waves; this was 
what they wished more than any¬ 
thing in the world. 

They grew and grew, year after 
year, larger and larger, more and 
more beautiful. Ten beautiful daugh¬ 
ters, each with long hair. Such 











44 


THE MAGIC HOUSE 


beautiful hair! So beautiful that each 
was given a comb of pure gold to 
comb it with, and to each was given 
a golden wand. 

And if you will go down by the sea, 
late at night when the moon is full, 
and everything is very still and there 
is no one about, I think you will hear 
them, humming the sweetest music 
you ever heard, as they float on the 
crest of the waves, combing their 
long locks. 




Veter and the Qiant 

For two whole days it stormed; 
first rain, then snow—then rain and 
snow together. 

Everything was very slippery, and 
the wind blew as if it would tear the 
very house down! 

Bob and Betty watched from the 
playroom window all day long. 
Mother wouldn’t let them go out, not 
even to the Magic House, where Gruff 
had to remain. He did bark some 
times to let the children know he was 
there, and was hungry. 

Father carried out his dish, filled 
with nice warm broth and bread, or 
sometimes mush and milk, three 
times a day. 


45 


46 


THE MAGIC HOUSE 


But Bob and Betty had to remain 
inside, and play in the big house. 
There had been a circus the first day, 
with all the toy animals. The dolls 
went, dressed in their best Sunday 
clothes. The tent was a gorgeous one, 
made from a quilt of many colors, 
which Bob spread over two chairs. 

A clown doll sold yellow and white 
colored candies which the children 
found in a big, egg-shaped candy box 
which the Easter bunny had brought 
them, and which had lain away for¬ 
gotten during the long summer 
months. 

There had been a tea party with 
real tea and cake, and a picnic down 
behind the sand dunes—there was a 
wonderful place to play sand dunes 
behind the sofa in Mother’s living 
room! 


PETER AND THE GIANT 


47 



Mother had told stories. The bubble 
pipes were used over and over again, 
and they had even helped dear old 
Katie make a pie out of the left over 
dough, just big enough for the dollies 
to eat. 

Hark! “Whoof! Whoof! Whoof!” 
That must be Gruff! 

There he was out under the win¬ 
dow. “Oh, Mother, please let him in!” 
Such pleading little faces—Mother 
couldn’t refuse. So Bob flew to the 









48 


THE MAGIC HOUSE 


door, opened it just a crack, and there 
stood the little dog, his tail wagging 
so hard, it nearly broke off. 

He was all wet, but the children 
soon dried him on Bob’s new gray 
sweater! 

Up in the playroom they went. 
Little Gruff trotted along, sniffing at 
everything, even growling at a stuffed 
cat of Betty’s. 

He seemed much interested in the 
two little white beds, side by side, tied 
together with a heavy piece of white 
cord. 

“When I go to sleep,” Betty ex¬ 
plained to him, “sometimes our beds 
will run away in the night—out the 
window they go, and float away off 
in the darkness. Sometimes when I 
wake up, I cry and cry to go home and 


PETER AND THE GIANT 


49 



I can’t find the way to steer it back; 
so Bob tied them together, and now 
they don’t go away any more.” 

Gruff listened very attentively, his 
mouth wide open, showing his teeth 
as though he were smiling. 

They played hide and seek all over 
the house—up stairs in the attic, down 
stairs in the cellar—they had a fine 
romp, then Mother called them. 

















50 


THE MAGIC HOUSE 


“Supper time,” she said. “Wash 
your hands and faces.” And there 
was bread and milk for all three in 
the nursery. 

Gruff was allowed to sleep in the 
cellar where it was nice and warm, 
and he slept so soundly he didn’t wake 
up until Father called him in the 
morning to go out for a little run. 

The wind had died down, and the 
sun was out, so as soon as Betty and 
Bob finished their breakfast out they 
went to play in the Magic House. 
Gruff joined them, welcoming them 
most heartily, and without any urg¬ 
ing began to tell them a story the 
moon had told him one night when 
he had gone out to bark in the moon¬ 
light. 


PETER AND THE GIANT 


51 



“The moon was full and the night 
very clear,” he began. 

“Is it a true story?” interrupted 
Bob. Gruff nodded his head. “Yes, 
the moon said so, anyway.” 

And this is the story Gruff told 
Betty and Bob as they sat huddled 
close beside him. 

Once upon a time, there was a little 
boy named Peter, who lived with his 



52 


THE MAGIC HOUSE 


father and mother in a low, rambling 
stone house, right by the edge of the 
sea. 

There was an older brother, Don, 
who spent much of his time off in the 
woods hunting. A fairy whom he met 
in the woods once gave him a magic 
wand to protect himself with, should 
he ever encounter danger. 

He had always been very kind to 
the fairies and had saved them from 
some troublesome woodchucks that 
would scratch up their “green” 
where they danced in the moonlight. 

Little Peter was allowed to play 
down along the beach all day long, 
but he must never, never get in any 
boats that were drawn up on the 
shore. 

The ocean was calm, like a great 


PETER AND THE GIANT 


53 



He had saved them from some troublesome woodchucks. 

big lake—but there was a tide, and 
when it was high, the water was very 
deep. 

Peter was a good little boy and 
almost always obeyed his parents; 
but one day he found an old oar, and 
it was quite natural that he should 
climb into one of the boats to see if 
the oar would work. 

He played at rowing the boat for a 






54 


THE MAGIC HOUSE 


long time, then he thought it would 
be fun to push the boat out into the 
water, just a little bit, then a little 
bit more,—until off it went, and so 
suddenly that he lost his balance and 
fell down backwards in the boat. 

The oar flew out of his hands, and 
before he knew what had happened, 
he was drifting off to sea. 

The beach was deserted, so his cries 
for help brought no one. He had 
drifted and drifted way out to sea, 
and it was growing dark. He was 
very cold, and so frightened. He had 
no coat, and he was hungry besides. 
He cried and cried and cried, until 
finally he was so weary he curled up 
like a kitten and fell fast asleep. 

How long he slept he never knew, 
but when he opened his eyes, it was 


PETER AND THE GIANT 


55 


There was the tallest man he had ever seen. 

no longer dark. The sky was a soft 
gray, tinted a pale pink at the edge 
of the water—the sun was just get¬ 
ting up. 

Peter looked about him, and there 
standing close beside the boat, was 




















56 


THE MAGIC HOUSE 


the tallest man he had ever seen, and 
he was grinning from ear to ear. He 
seemed altogether too pleased to have 
found the little boy! 

“Ho, ho!” the giant laughed, “a nice 
savory morsel you will make for my 
breakfast!” And picking poor Peter 
up, he chucked him roughly into his 
pocket. 

Peter was thankful to be where it 
was warm even if he couldn’t see, and 
by the swinging motion he knew he 
was being carried through the water, 
and he hoped homeward. 

Soon he learned his hope was in 
vain, for a few more strides of the 
giant brought him on the shore. Peter 
could tell by the grinding of the big 
feet on the sand. Then, “Hello, wife! 
I have a prize!” he heard the giant 
call. 


PETER AND THE GIANT 


57 





Up to the castle he marched, pulled 
little Peter out of his pocket, and 
threw him into a box that stood in 
the corner. 

Dame Minc’em’all, the giant’s wife, 
looked at the frightened child, and 
shook her head sympathetically. It 
didn’t seem fair for her great big hus¬ 
band to pick on little boys and girls, 




58 


THE MAGIC HOUSE 


and it made her heart sick when he 
talked of eating them! 

“I have a fine hot breakfast for you, 
Salamander,” said she. “Come, it’s 
all ready and will soon be cold.” 

He was quite willing to sit down, 
for he had been out all night fishing, 
and had caught nothing—except poor 
little Peter. 

He was terribly hungry—ate two 
whole pigs, and fourteen loaves of 
bread—seventeen big cups of coffee, 
and four ostrich eggs, scrambled in 
butter! 

Much refreshed after this repast, he 
pulled off his boots, slid down in his 
chair, and was soon snoring loudly. 

Old Dame Minc’em’all gave Peter 
a bowl of warm milk with bread in it, 
and two sugar cookies with raisins 
on them. 



He was soon snoring loudly. 

59 







































60 


THE MAGIC HOUSE 


Then she busied herself in the 
kitchen, so Peter thought he’d slip out 
of the door and run away. No sooner 
did he reach the side of the house, 
however, than he realized his mistake, 
for there stood two enormous blood¬ 
hounds, growling in such a blood 
curdling way that he was nearly 
frightened to death. 

He looked down the beach past the 
dogs, and there were dozens and doz¬ 
ens of great hard shell crabs, walking 
up and down the shore. 

The poor little boy was helpless, for 
he realized that he was a prisoner in a 
strange land. He was sure he could 
never escape. If he had only minded 
his Mother and Father! If he had 
stayed out of that boat, he would be 
safe at home right now! 


PETER AND THE GIANT 


61 



He was a brave little boy, however, 
and he determined to wait patiently. 
Maybe his courage and patience 
would be rewarded! 

That night, as soon as it was dark, 
the giant’s wife gave him a candle, 
and told him to climb up a ladder that 
stood in the kitchen to a loft above 
where he was to sleep. 

Up he went obediently, and he was 
so sleepy and tired he tumbled right 
into the trundle bed, clothes and all. 
Soon he was fast asleep. 

Was he dreaming? Surely he heard 












62 


THE MAGIC HOUSE 


soft music, but it seemed a long way 
off. Peter lay very still and listened. 
It was music, the softest, sweetest 
music he had ever heard. He jumped 
out of bed and flew to the window. 
It was bright moonlight, he could look 
way out to sea. There were little 
objects bobbing about on the water, 
and he could see something moving 
towards him. Yes, and as it came 
nearer, it kept growing larger all the 
time. Surely he was awake—he 
rubbed his eyes and pinched himself— 
then looked again. There it was, 
larger still, large enough now so that 
he could see that it was a boat, a row 
boat with someone seated at the oars, 
which looked like silver in the moon¬ 
light. 

On and on it glided, until Peter 


PETER AND THE GIANT 


63 


could see it clearly and recognize its 
occupant—yes, it was Don, his big 
brother! 

Peter was overjoyed, of course— 
but only for a moment. He remem¬ 
bered those awful crabs, those hor¬ 
rible dogs. Don could never get past 
them! 

But the little boat, now a full grown 
boat, was grating on the sand; out 
Don jumped, and just as the crabs 
reached out their long sharp claws to 
grab him, he touched them with his 
magic wand, and what do you sup¬ 
pose? They turned over on their 
backs, perfectly helpless, for all the 
world like big beetles! 

And the dogs met the same fate, as 
they pounced on him. 

There he was, safe and sound, high 


64 


THE MAGIC HOUSE 


and dry, looking all 
about and listening 
carefully for any 
alarm. 

He gave a low whis¬ 
tle; Peter knew that 
whistle, and answered 
it in the same low tone. 

Don heard him and 
followed the sound 
right to the foot of 
the window — looked 
up — whispered, 
“Catch this rope lad¬ 
der—fasten it to the bed and climb 
out — quick — don’t lose a second!” 
Peter obeyed hastily, he didn’t lose 
even part of a second. He did exactly 
as he was told to do, and Don caught 
him in his arms as he fell with a leap. 










PETER AND THE GIANT 


65 



She called loudly, “Salamander!” 


The old wife had sharp ears and she 
feared her husband’s wrath. She 
heard the whistle, and crept up the 
ladder to see if all was well. When 
she found Peter had gone, she called 
loudly, “Salamander-hurry!” But she 
didn’t call half loud enough. Don and 
Peter reached the boat before she 
could make the giant hear. He was 
only half awake then, for he forgot 














66 


THE MAGIC HOUSE 


his seven leagued boots and he 
couldn’t go very fast without them. 

The minute they were in the boat 
Don grabbed the oars and pushed off; 
rowed as hard as ever he could. Peter 
was so worried he began to cry, for 
he could see the giant down on the 
beach calling after them and waving 
his arms wildly. 

He plunged into the sea after the 
boys, striding on and on, almost 
reaching them. Yes, one more stride, 
and he could touch the stern of the 
boat—but, splash! Down in the ocean 
Salamander fell; and he never got up 
again, for the mermaids Peter had 
heard singing as they combed their 
golden hair in the moonlight had 
known all about the wicked old giant, 
and when they saw him wading out 


PETER AND THE GIANT 


67 



Down in the ocean Salamander jell. 


into the sea after Peter and Don, they 
quickly found some sea weed ropes 
and laid them criss cross along the 
bottom of the ocean. 

As he walked over them they 
pulled them up—tripped him, and 
tied him down tight, so he couldn’t 
get up; and the more he struggled 
the tighter they drew the ropes. At 
last they had him fast! 

Don and Peter reached home with¬ 
out any more trouble, and Peter 






68 


THE MAGIC HOUSE 


promised always to mind his Mother 
and Father and never go out in the 
boats again. He had learned that 
harm always comes to children who 
disobey! 

From that day until now the ocean 
has waves, because the old wicked 
giant is trying to get up. Sometimes 
he kicks and struggles so violently 
that it makes very big waves, and 
every one says there’s a storm brew¬ 
ing because the ocean is so rough. 
But we know better, don’t we? We 
know it is Salamander fast at the 
bottom of the sea and tugging hard 
to get loose. But never again will he 
be free—the mermaids tied him too 
tight! 


The Cloud Fairies 


“I’m glad,” Bob said early one 
morning, “that it’s windy, for I’m go¬ 
ing to fly my kite.” 

“Oh, let me fly it too?” asked Betty, 
always wanting to do what brother 
Bob did. 

“No, you’ll have to get one of your 
own, Betty. Get Mother to help you 
make one—mine’s too big for you.” 

Bob never stopped to wonder 
whether Mother was busy or not! But 
like the darling mother she was, she 
stopped her work and hunted with the 
children in the cellar until they found 
two long narrow strips of wood, one 
longer than the other, and they fast¬ 
ened them together in the center with 
a tack, covered the frame carefully 

69 


70 


THE MAGIC HOUSE 


with some old red paper, tied a tail 
on it, then a long, long piece of string, 
and Betty’s kite was ready! 

Off she ran with Bob, not forgetting 
to say “Thank you.” Always close 
behind the children, little Gruff 
barked encouragingly, as the little 
gusts of wind took hold of the kites 
and tossed them higher and higher, 
way up to the clouds. 

Then the most exciting thing hap¬ 
pened! The sky was very gray, clouds 
floating all about, white ones, purple 
ones, some tinted pale pink, some 
deep pink, some bright yellow, all 
lining up, one behind the other as 
though in a parade. 

Suddenly a great big one came 
floating into line. Why, it was a camel, 
a big cloud camel with two humps, 


THE CLOUD FAIRIES 


71 



just like the one in the circus last 
summer. He had a very long neck, 
and his head was stretching up as 
though trying to reach something 
higher. Perhaps he wanted to eat 
some green cheese out of the moon— 
you know they say the moon is made 
of green cheese. 

Perched on the camel’s back were 
two tiny, tiny fairies, one as fair as a 
lily, the other dark as an Indian. 
There they sat, one behind the other, 
riding astride the cloud camel. 

This was even better than flying 
kites! 






72 


THE MAGIC HOUSE 


“Let’s watch the fairies,” Betty 
said. But they had no sooner let 
their kites down to the ground than 
the camel floated away after the other 
clouds, taking the fairies with him. 

“Oh, well,” Bob said, “it’s getting 
late anyway. We can put our kites 
away until the next windy day, and 
play awhile in the Magic House.” 

So Gruff led the way to the Magic 
House, and once inside, they shut the 
door and looked eagerly at Gruff. 
Well they knew the stories he could 
tell. 

“Would you like me to tell you 
about those cloud fairies?” he sug¬ 
gested. 

“Indeed we would,” said the 
children. 

Well, he began, they belong to 



There she keeps all the little stars polished brightly. 

73 


















































































































































































74 


THE MAGIC HOUSE 


Mother Sky-Scraper who lives way up 
in the clouds, in a great big castle 
made of beautiful white snow. There 
she keeps all the little stars polished 
brightly, and lights them almost 
every night as soon as it is dark. 

She has so many children she can’t 
count them! And many haven’t any 
names! 

But a very queer thing about 
Mother Sky-Scraper’s children is, they 
have to play in the house when it’s 
clear and sunshiny, but when it rains 
out they go, all about the clouds, 
climbing way up, sometimes twice as 
high as the highest mountain you 
ever saw. 

They love to peep down through 
the cracks to see what the earth 
children are doing, and often they 


THE CLOUD FAIRIES 


75 



ride down on the rain drops to play 
with the earth fairies. 

One day two of the liveliest little 
cloud fairies, named Sunshine and 
Shadow, found a big storm was brew¬ 
ing. They danced about, singing: 









76 


THE MAGIC HOUSE 


“The clouds are very gray 
Pushing and crowding 
Everything out of the way!” 

and they looked around until they 
found the blackest thunder cloud. 
They hid behind it until the rain 
started to pour down, then off they 
darted into the shower, each on a big 
drop of rain. 

Sunshine landed on a lily pad, way 
out in a pond. Shadow fell on the 
edge of a chimney of a tall brick 
house, but Sunshine didn’t know this, 
and she was much distressed, for she 
had expected that Shadow would land 
right beside her. What should she do? 

Just then a turtle came bobbing up 
to the surface of the water to see what 
all the disturbance was. Quick as a 
flash Sunshine spied him. “Oh, please, 


THE CLOUD FAIRIES 


77 



carry me on your back to the shore, 
won’t you, Mr. Turtle?” she begged. 

“Of course I will,” he replied, back¬ 
ing up to the lily pad so she could 
step aboard. Then he ferried her 
across to a regular landing bridge 
which had been built by Billy Beaver. 
She jumped nimbly ashore, threw her 
good friend a kiss, and ran up under 
some May apple umbrellas to watch 
for Shadow. 

















78 


THE MAGIC HOUSE 


She called and called, hoo-hooed 
and hoo-hooed, until a little swallow 
came flying right down in front of 
her, carrying on her back—whom do 
you suppose? Yes, it was Shadow, 
and she began breathlessly to tell 
Sunshine what had happened. 

It seemed that Mrs. Swallow had 
her nest right in the chimney where 
Shadow landed, and when she heard 
the little cloud fairy crying she tried 
to comfort her. Shadow told her all 
about their flight and how she had 
lost Sunshine. 

“Well, well, you just put your arms 
around my neck,” Mrs. Swallow had 
told Shadow, “Hold on tight, and 
we’ll just fly around until we find 
Sunshine!” 

And true enough, you see, they did! 


THE CLOUD FAIRIES 


79 



She jumped, nimbly ashore . 


Weren’t they happy to find each 
other! It made Mrs. Swallow’s moth¬ 
erly heart happy too because the little 
fairies were happy again. 

Pretty soon they saw a bright, 
bright light that reached way up into 
the sky—red, orange, yellow, green, 
blue, purple—why it looked like a 
great big horse shoe, or a croquet 
wicket. And they knew that the 










80 


THE MAGIC HOUSE 


storm was over, because that is what 
the rainbow tells us, so just as the 
sunshine reached its rays down to the 
earth, the little fairies clasped it 
tightly and climbed back up to cloud 
land, safe once more. 

And if you watch the clouds the 
next time you see them floating across 
the sky, who knows but that you may 
see an elephant, or a lion, or a great, 
big bear, or even an ostrich, or a 
camel, or even a tiny piggy with a 
curly tail, and perhaps you may see 
them all, each behind the other, fol¬ 
lowing in a long parade Anyway, 
watch sharp and think hard! 


The Christmas Story 


’Twas the day before Christmas! 

And all through the house, 

There was stirring and bustle. 

Which disturbed Mr. Mouse. 

Father took Bob and Betty out in 
the woods to gather the Christmas 
greens. 

Of course, little Gruff trailed along. 
Out over the brook they went, across 
the fields, down beyond the river. 

There was holly, with bright red 
berries to gather—laurel, with crisp, 
shiny leaves. These they piled up on 
two long poles roped together. Betty 
carried the front ends and Bob the 
back. 

It was great fun—on they trudged 

81 


82 


THE MAGIC HOUSE 


through the woods until they came to 
a clearing. 

As far as tne eyes could see across 
the open country, there was nothing 
but field after field of brown, stubby, 
dry grass and marsh land. Not a sign 
of any living thing, except way down 
in the little hollow there was a small 
green speck. 

“Let’s go see what it is,” suggested 
Bob. 

Off they tramped, though quite a 
long distance to walk, and the ground 
hard and bumpy. They were very 
curious and quite ready for adven¬ 
ture. 

“Why, it’s a little pine tree!” And 
there, standing all alone, was the 
most perfect Christmas tree one ever 
saw! 


THE CHRISTMAS STORY 


83 



“Why, it*s a little pine tree’ 


“Let’s take it home,” both children 
shouted at once. “I have a knife,” 
said Bob, “I can easily cut it down.” 

“Wait a minute,” said Father. 

“How would you like to take the 
tree, roots and all, so we can plant it 
later on?” 

That would be just the thing to do, 
they agreed. So Father very care¬ 
fully pulled up the tree—pretty hard 







84 


THE MAGIC HOUSE 


work too, as the ground was frozen. 

One, two, three—out it came with 
a jerk. He then lifted it up over his 
shoulder and started off for home. 

Then they filled a tub with earth 
and put the tree in it; placing this in 
the living-room where it blossomed 
forth on Christmas morning. 

Santa Claus had hung the branches 
full. There were golden balls, candy 
canes and baskets, sugar plums, a top, 
a doll, toys—in fact, all the things 
children love best on Christmas. And 
a beautiful bright shining star, right 
on the top. 

Every one who saw it said, “This is 
the most beautiful tree we have ever 
seen.” 

For two weeks the tree remained in 
the house, fresh and green. Then one 


THE CHRISTMAS STORY 85 

mild day, Mother and Father un¬ 
dressed it, putting the balls and tinsel 
away for another year. 

Then the tree was taken out in the 
yard and planted, right next to a 
beautiful tall, stately pine tree, that 
had been planted at the side of the 
porch in the Fall. “So the big tree can 
take care of the little Christmas tree,” 
said Betty. 

Gruff was barking—what was the 
matter? Off they ran to the Magic 
House where he had been watching 
for them. 

“Come in, children,” he called, “I 
have a story to tell you—the story of 
that little lone pine tree. 

“She told this to me, Christmas 
night after you had all gone to bed. 
No one remembered to put me out— 


86 


THE MAGIC HOUSE 


so I curled up and went to sleep under 
her branches. 

“I was awakened by a strange 
sound, as though someone were cry¬ 
ing very softly, but as I listened, I 
found the Christmas tree was mur¬ 
muring, and this is what she told me.” 

Once upon a time! (really seven 
years ago) she was a tiny seed- 
baby, living way up in the mountains 
in a beautiful pine country with her 
big heavy Father, and tall slender 
Mother, and all the Aunts and Uncles. 

There was a dear little stream of 
water running right past them, that 
rippled over some stones, and bathed 
their roots on hot, sultry, summer 
days. 

The little seed-baby was holding 
tight to its Mother’s long, smooth 


THE CHRISTMAS STORY 87 

fingers, as all the other little seed- 
baby brothers and sisters were, rock¬ 
ing back and forth, like a big cradle, 
in the breeze, very contented and 
happy. 

Suddenly a strong gale of wind 
came along, w-h-o-oooooooooo, w-h- 
o-ooooooooo, w - h - o - ooooooooo! 
and lifted the seed-baby right up in its 
arms and carried it miles and miles 
away. 

Over forest and rivers, over swamps 
and meadows, the wind swept her 
along, until it came to a lonely spot. 

There the little seed was dropped. 
Down she fell, down, down, to the 
cold, hard ground. 

Oh! so dizzy and frightened; she 
cried and cried — cried until the 
ground was all wet with tears, soften- 


THE MAGIC HOUSE 


ing it a bit so she could snuggle down 
under the earth. 

She was so tired and sleepy, and she 
wanted her Mother. 

So the kind warm sunshine put her 
to sleep. 

Then the snow came, covering up 
the little seed with a nice warm, 
white, feathery blanket, keeping it 
warm, until Spring came with its gen¬ 
tle rains, tapping on the crusty, brown 
earth. 

Tap, tap, tap! 

Rap, rap, rap! 

It's time Little Sleepers to wake up! 

You have had a long nap, 

On Mother Earth’s warm lap. 

Come, Lazy Sleepers, come get up! 

The Little Sleeper’s feet were very 
stiff and cramped, so it began to 
stretch and crack open its coat that 
felt so tight. The little arms reached 


THE CHRISTMAS STORY 


89 



She loved the cold and frosty nights. 


out, then pop—up came the head— 
right out into the sunshine. 

Everything was so fresh and bright 
she started to reach up, higher and 
higher, to see what was beyond. 

The rains brought her refreshing 
drinks, and the little roots found her 
food. 

So the seed grew and grew, day 






90 


THE MAGIC HOUSE 


after day, and month after month, 
and year after year. 

There wasn’t a single tree to speak 
to, so she often sighed from loneli¬ 
ness. 

The little creepers tried to comfort 
her, telling her all about the little 
ants and bugs—the gentle winds 
whispered tales of the forest folk. But 
the tree still cried for her Mother. 

She loved the cold and frosty nights 
out under the stars, loved to have the 
snow flakes fall softly down over her 
branches, kissing them ever so lightly. 

But best of all she loved the frozen 
icicles that hung so tightly to her 
boughs, for in the morning they glist¬ 
ened like radiant diamonds, making 
the little tree feel happier, because 
she seemed to be making the world 
brighter. 


THE CHRISTMAS STORY 91 

And what do you suppose? The 
tree said Christmas day was the very 
happiest day she had ever known, not 
just because she filled the whole house 
with her wonderful fragrance and 
good cheer, but because she was able 
to hold all the beautiful gifts that 
were to make others so happy, and 
the little tree held her branches so 
stiff, so still, the toys and golden balls 
and tinsel could not slip off. 

And it was a Merry Christmas. 
The Christmas tree was planted in the 
ground, where the sun could shine on 
her, and the rain fall all over her 
branches, and help her grow. 

The tall, stately pine looked down 
on her so tenderly, and, think of it— 
recognized her little long lost baby. 
A mother always knows her little 
ones, you know. 


92 


THE MAGIC HOUSE 


And she reached out her arms so 
lovingly — leaned toward the little 
tree, just close enough to touch the 
top of her head, and the little pine felt 
a warm glow all through her heart, 
and she knew her Mother-knew that 
she was safe at last. 

The Mother tree had been uprooted 
by a nursery man, who had carried it 
in a big green truck to Bobby’s home, 
where it had been planted. 

The old tree had mourned and 
mourned, for the seed-baby the wind 
had swept away. 

But now she was perfectly con¬ 
tented, because she had found her 
long lost baby. 

There they stand, hand in hand, side 
by side, swaying in the breeze; grow¬ 
ing more and more beautiful, year 
after year, giving pleasure to all who 
pass by. 



She reached out her arms so lovingly. 

93 
































































































































































































































The Fairy c Ring 

Birthday candles! 

Tall and white, 

Shedding light—through the long dark night. 
Fairies see them and find their way 
To the fairy ring, where they dance till day. 

Drop-drop-drop—not a sound could 
be heard in the forest, except the drop 
of an acorn, now and then, falling to 
the ground from the tall, old trees. 

All was very still—not even the rus¬ 
tle of the tiniest leaf. 

A chipmunk crept out of his hole in 
a stump, looked all about, very cau¬ 
tiously slid down to the ground. All 
was safe. 

The night was very dark. No ani¬ 
mals were about, and all the insects 
seemed to be fast asleep. 

The little wife “Fluffy-tail” was 

94 


THE FAIRY RING 


95 



What did he see? 


snug and warm in the nest cuddling 
two tiny new babies. 

“Brownie,” for that was the chip¬ 
munk’s name, ran along the tiny path 
to gather nuts for breakfast. 

On and on through the forest he 
went, up and up the narrow, winding 
path to the top of the hill, crowned 
with tall, slender, white birch trees, 
that looked just like white candles, 





96 


THE MAGIC HOUSE 


nodding on a birthday cake, leaning 
over a bit because the cake had been 
too hot when they were placed there. 

When he reached the edge of the 
ring of birches he suddenly stopped— 
What did he see? Tiny, tiny figures, 
moving about; around and around, 
carrying, now a chair, now a bench, 
then a table, then another. All so 
busy, to and fro. 

He was so astonished, he “froze.” 
(That is what all small animals are 
taught to do when very young.) 
Crouching down close to the ground, 
he watched. 

Yes, something was going to hap¬ 
pen, and he was going to wait and see. 

He peeked through the bushes—924 
crickets, 89 katydids, dressed in their 
short, red jackets, with rows of “bach- 


THE FAIRY RING 


97 



A bright green frog was beating time. 

elors buttons” down the sides, were 
perched on round pink toadstools. 

A bright green frog with funny big 
glasses on his nose was beating time 
with a reed and making a deep noise 
in his throat—k-k-junk! k-junk! k- 
junk! 

Just beyond was a patch of soft 
green moss—surrounding this, thou¬ 
sands of lightning bugs were turning 
on the lights. 







98 


THE MAGIC HOUSE 


Then the moon peeped out from the 
meadow below, casting a very soft 
glow over the whole world. 

From a distance, way back in the 
forest, was a path, dimly lighted by 
glow worms. Down this came some 
tiny fairies blowing on their trumpet- 
flower horns, skipping and hopping 
along. Then came all the little fairies 
in their dainty pale green, blue and 
yellow dresses, that the darning- 
needle dressmakers made out of but¬ 
terflies’ wings. Sewing them with 
thread that Mrs. Spider made, yards 
and yards, all in a web. 

Then came the Fairy Queen, dressed 
in gold and silver, and sparkling with 
diamonds—tiny glass “ladyslippers” 
on her tiny feet, and a Queen Anne’s 
lace handkerchief in her pocket. 



HMtV. VMU 


Then came the Fairy Queen. 

99 




























































































































































































































































































100 


THE MAGIC HOUSE 


On either side, protecting her from 
any danger, were two fierce looking 
snails, with long horns. Following 
them came ten gray field mice, wear¬ 
ing larkspurs on their boots, mounted 
on snapping turtles’ backs. Then all 
her attendants, swaying and hum¬ 
ming, carrying sweetgrass baskets, 
filled with candytuft that they scat¬ 
tered about as they glided along to 
the foot of the throne, where they 
grouped themselves, half on either 
side. 

The Queen raised her goldenrod 
wand, smiled, and sat down on her 
throne. 

Such a happy party, such merry 
music, all were eager for the fun. 

A fierce looking “snapdragon” ap¬ 
proached Her Majesty, the Queen. On 



They danced and danced. 

101 

















102 


THE MAGIC HOUSE 


bended knee, asked in accents loud 
and clear—“What is the command of 
our Fairy Queen to be?” 

She raised her wand, waved it about 
her head three times—all the little 
fairies bowed their heads low—then 
all was ready—Go! 

The dance began, and they danced 
and danced, and they danced and they 
danced, only stopping long enough to 
have a refreshing drink of milk from 
the milk weed that a stout black 
beetle poured out of a pitcher, made 
from a pitcher plant, into little “but¬ 
tercups” — sometimes to eat some 
honey cakes that “Yellow Jacket,” the 
bee, served. 

But hours fly along in the moon¬ 
light, and only too soon Mr. Sun sent 
his rays up into the sky to tell the 


THE FAIRY RING 


103 



fairies they must return to the woods 
and their tiny beds. 

Fairies must sleep when it’s day¬ 
time. So Miss Morning Glory, in her 
purple gown, told the Bluebells to 
ring the fairy chimes. 

Ding Dong! 

Fairies come along. 

Sun’s rays. 

Set the world ablaze. 







104 


THE MAGIC HOUSE 


So 

Pitter patter 
Little creatures’ laughter 
Fades away 
Until another day. 

A yellow tiger roared, a dog¬ 
toothed violet barked, some catnip 
meowed. 

Then an enormous elephantear 
trumpeted three times. The spell was 
broken. Away they all scampered, 
back to the thicket, in the heart of the 
forest, no one knows exactly where. 
But this we do know—fairies always 
bathe in the early morning dew, be¬ 
fore they close their eyes. And this is 
why the Dew-man always leaves it 
about on the grass, in the early morn¬ 
ing, especially, at the edge of a wood. 

And if one doesn’t believe there are 
fairies he must find a patch of moss 
at the entrance to a forest, and when 


THE FAIRY RING 


105 



Home, to the foot of the tree. 


the moon is full he will see them, 
dancing all through the night. 

Poor little “Brownie” rubbed his 
eyes—had he been asleep? 

He was very stiff. He had been 
crouching for hours. But he had his 
bag of nuts safe. 

He must hurry home before “Fluffy” 
should miss him, and soon “Midget” 
and “Tip” would wake up, so hungry. 









106 


THE MAGIC HOUSE 


Stretch — s-t-r-e-t-c-h — first one 
foot, then another. 

Scratch, scratch, scratch, scratch, 
then jump, frisk about, run, run, all 
the way home, to the foot of the tree. 
Up the bark stairs—pop in the hole, 
and home! 







The Little Blue SMan 

“Spring has come. Spring has 
come,” sings Christopher Cricket. 
“Spring, Spring, glorious Spring. Yes, 
the snow is still on the ground and 
the ice on the pond, but I tell you 
Spring is on the wing! 

“It woke me up out of my long 
winter’s nap today-here in this dark, 
snug cellar, where I’ve lived for three 
long, happy years. I love it, and my 
nice warm soft bed—but it’s time to 
wake up and chirp.” 

Bobby heard him as he lay all 
tucked in his snowy white bed, called 
Mother back again, after all the 
“good-nights” had been said, to ask 
her to listen to the cricket’s song. 
Then a very strange thing happened! 

107 


108 


THE MAGIC HOUSE 


The light that shone in from the 
hall, cast a shadow on the wall, just 
behind the little light by the bureau 
—was it a shadow? 

No, it was a tiny little blue man, 
old and bent, but with a very smiling 
face. See how his eyes sparkled with 
fun—yes, and he was nodding his 
head, very slowly. Then off came his 
tall, pointed, blue cap—and he bowed 
low. 

Down he jumped, crossing the room 
limpety, limpety, on his tiny cane. 

Bob was after him in a hurry — 
down the hall, down the stairs, all 
the way to the cellar. 

It was very dark except for a dim 
light under the wood pile. 

The little blue man crept along 
through the cracks between the logs, 


THE LITTLE BLUE MAN 109 

Bob close behind, until they suddenly 
popped right into the coziest, cleanest 
little room ever seen. 

Christopher Cricket was hopping 
about on his hind legs with his little 
gray apron on, peeling potatoes and 
carrots to drop in a little pot that was 
filled with boiling hot water, standing 
on a tiny cooking stove. Dried ants 
and other bugs were hanging all 
about for future meals — and there 
was the table all set, tablecloth, knife, 
fork and spoon, yes, and a napkin. 

There was his cute little brass bed 
over in the corner, where he had 
slept all winter, (and surely he had 
borrowed it from Betty’s dolls’ 
house.) The warm covers were 
thrown back to air, and there was his 
cute little lantern hanging on a 
splinter of wood! 


110 


THE MAGIC HOUSE 


Coffee was cooking, steaming hot. 
Christopher insisted on sharing this 
with the little blue man and Bob- 
Bob who had always begged so hard 
for just a taste of Father’s coffee. My, 
it was good! How hard it would be 
to submit to the “no, not until you are 
older,” after this feast. And they had 
pie too, mince and cocoanut, the big¬ 
gest pieces Bob had ever seen. 

Then it was time to wash the dishes. 
Bob had unpleasant memories of dry¬ 
ing dishes when Corinthia was sick, 
so he suggested returning to his bed. 

But the little blue man had another 
surprise—Punch and Judy! 

“What are you doing in your glass 
globe house there in the living room! 
Why, it’s as big as the pond back of Mr. 
Peck’s, where we go in swimming in 





Christopher Cricket was peeling potatoes. 

Ill 




























































112 


THE MAGIC HOUSE 


the summer—and look at Judy! With 
Mother’s best pink apron on—the one 
with lace ruffles and ribbon ties in the 
back—and Mother’s beauty lace night 
cap! 

(And Judy had her hair done up in 
little funny knobs all over her head, 
just like Mother does Betty’s when 
she wants curls.) 

Judy was dusting the rocks and 
stones with a feather duster, and 
cleaning the moss with a carpet 
sweeper. Punch was turning the little 
ice cream freezer, wearing Father’s 
long tail coat—and his tall black hat 
that no one could ever touch! 

The little blue man and Bob sat 
on the edge of the bowl and splashed 
their feet in the water—wasn’t it fun! 
And it didn’t matter a bit, because 


THE LITTLE BLUE MAN 


113 


Bob had run off in such a hurry he had 
no slippers on. 

Then a great big alligator crawled 
up with a beautiful silver coronet 
under his arm, s-p-l-a-s-h! The green 
bull frog from Mother’s flower dish 
was swimming about in the water, 
with all the yellow daffodils stuck in 
his back! 

He had a big bass drum and traps 
hanging around his neck, and there 
were two snails, each with an enor¬ 
mous saxophone — and there sat a 
little speckled spider with a banjo— 
with Father’s horn rimmed spectacles 
on! 

“One, two, three,—let’s go,” shouted 
the alligator, “begin dancing!” 

The little fish wheeled about on the 
tips of their tiny tails, singing softly, 
“clap, clap, carpners! (partners!) clap, 


114 


THE MAGIC HOUSE 


clap, carpners! One foot, then the 
other foot, and turn yourself around!” 

They bowed low, they swayed back 
and forth—up and down, round and 
round, quite in time to the music. But 
why was no one playing the piano? 

Bob was sure he could, for he had 
often watched “Brother Lahr” play. 
Flop—he dived right down on the— 
hard floor! Where was he—what had 
happened? Father was quietly pick¬ 
ing him up and snuggling him back 
in his little bed. 

“Was it a bad dream,” asked 
Mother, “or was it just an undigested 
crust of bread and milk?” 




Hilda Watt 


Once upon a time there was a little 
girl who wished and longed to be a 
princess. So one day when she was 
walking along the edge of a forest 
picking flowers and pretending she 
was one, a little old woman jumped 
right up out of a hole in the ground. 
My! but she did have a cross looking 
face! 

The little girl was so frightened she 
nearly turned to stone. Then the little 
old fairy, she was a wicked old fairy 
too, held out her wand and said in a 
very shrill voice, “So you want to be 
a princess, do you? You are not satis¬ 
fied and happy to be just a good little 
girl! 


115 


116 


THE MAGIC HOUSE 


“Well, I am going to teach you, no 
matter what you are now, where you 
are, you must be contented.” 

So she touched the little girl with 
her magic wand, and turned her into 
a little bird, a tiny little brown and 
gray wren, that sat and blinked at the 
little wicked old fairy until a sudden 
gust of wind blew her away. 

Then the little wren flapped her 
tiny wings and flew way up into the 
very tallest tree in the forest. 

There she perched on a swaying 
branch—my! how far she could see. 
Little Jenny Wren didn’t know the 
world was so large. 

Fields and fields, hills and valleys, 
brooks and streams, way over the 
river and beyond the high blue 
smoky-looking mountains where the 
“THREE BEARS” lived. 


HILDA WATT 


117 



Such a big wide world! Which way 
should a little bird fly? It was grow¬ 
ing dark — soon the sun would be 
dropping its golden head down upon 
those feathery white, soft looking 
clouds, floating along the horizon. 

So she spread her wings and flew 
about, here and there and everywhere 
—looking for a place to rest for the 
night. 



118 


THE MAGIC HOUSE 


Tree after tree she searched, but 
they did not offer her any shelter. 
Finally she found a very old oak tree 
that had the tiniest little round hole 
in the side of a huge trunk, high above 
the ground, and about the size of an 
eye. 

In Jenny darted, making sure first 
that no one else was inside—there she 
cuddled up like a tiny ball of feathers 
until mother sun touched her so 
gently, early in the morning. 

What was that noise? Such a chat¬ 
tering she had never heard. All the 
birds of the air were talking and 
calling. 

Wake up, wake up. 

Birds and beasts and flowers. 

It’s time to sup. 

We must interrupt 
Those who keep late hours! 


HILDA WATT 


119 


Jenny Wren shook herself—plumed 
her feathers — smoothed them all 
down (that’s the way birds wash their 
faces and hands!), then hopped out of 
her little hole, and joined the feath¬ 
ered folk of the forest. 

They all stared at her—stared so 
hard, called her such names, she flew 7 
away off on a distant bush by herself. 

Some impudent big Blue Jays 
chased her all around, squawking 
“Here, here-here, here-here, here.” 

Then a saucy Cardinal chirped out, 
“Is it true? Well, well—well, well— 
well, well.” Four jet black Starlings 
tried to pick her with their long, sharp 
bills. 

By this time poor Jenny was so 
frightened, so hungry and so faint 
(because she had gone supperless to 


120 


THE MAGIC HOUSE 


bed) she fell right into a bramble 
patch, and she couldn’t get out again! 
What could she do now! Her little 
heart was beating like a drum and her 
wing was broken. 

“See here, see here,” cried a little 
kind-hearted Killdeer, flying right 
down in the underbrush and helping 
Jenny up on a firm twig, just as Bar¬ 
tholomew Wren came rushing along 
—Bartholomew, who always carried 
a popgun over his shoulder. 

All the birds knew him and were 
afraid of him, tiny as he was. So the 
cowardly Blue Jays and naughty Car¬ 
dinal bird scuttled away, leaving the 
little Wrens and Kitsy Killdeer in 
peace. With the help of Bart and Kit¬ 
sy, Jenny managed to hop out of the 
thicket. But how could she ever get 


HILDA WATT 


121 


back to her hole in the tree? She 
couldn’t stay in the open long after 
this terrible experience. She started 
to cry in her rose-colored handker¬ 
chief that had such a good smell. 

In an instant Bartholomew folded 
his wings about her and whispered in 
her ear, “I am going to take you home 
with me, to my cute little downy nest 
that I built in a large spreading plum 
tree. It is just in full bloom and is a 
mass of beautiful, white, fragrant 
blossoms—quite the proper place to 
take a little bride.” 

Kitsy knew Sammy Swallow very 
well—he lived in Parson Hogan’s 
chimney. Sammy knew exactly how 
to marry birds. He had often heard 
the parson read the ceremony, as he 
sat quietly listening in his chimney 
corner. 


122 


THE MAGIC HOUSE 


Kitsy flew all the way up to Sammy 
Swallow’s nest. Sure enough, he was 
at home. 

She had to perch on the chimney to 
rest until she could catch her breath, 
she had hurried so fast. 

Yes, indeed, he would perform the 
marriage. So together they returned 
to the thicket. 

Seeing so much excitement, a crowd 
of curious birds had gathered about in 
a circle. They were chattering and 
chirping and flying about until Mrs. 
Bluebird suddenly lighted right down 
in their midst. “How de do, how de 
do people!” she said, and at once ar¬ 
ranged a pretty wedding for the little 
Wrens under a bower of spring beau¬ 
ties. 

Sammy made Jenny and Bart 


HILDA WATT 


123 


promise to live together in peace and 
love as long as they lived. Then there 
was much merry making. 

Overhead in the topmost branch of 
a budding maple tree a Lark burst 
forth, “Children, there you are,” then 
sang the most beautiful trills you ever 
heard. 

Bartholomew and Jenny Wren 
started off for their home, very happy 
and very grateful to all the little help¬ 
ers. 

Strong Patrick Oriole carried Jen¬ 
ny on his back all the way to the edge 
of her nest, as her wing was still very 
painful. 

As soon as Jenny was able to fly 
again, she and Bart had great fun to¬ 
gether, hunting worms and seeing 
who could fly the highest. 


124 


THE MAGIC HOUSE 


One day Jenny laid a tiny brown 
and white-speckled egg, the next day 
she laid another, and the next day 
another, until she had laid six eggs— 
six tiny, tiny eggs. She was so careful 
of them; she never went away from 
them for fear they might become 
chilled. 

Bart carried her meals to her for 
fourteen days, then there were six 
cunning, wriggling, featherless birds! 

Such a hustling time to feed so 
many mouths until they were big 
enough to hop out of the nest to help 
themselves. 

When the summer days began to 
shorten and the nights were growing 
cold, Bart told Jenny that it was time 
to prepare to move south, where it 
was warmer. 


HILDA WATT 


125 


It had been so beautiful in the plum 
tree. They had been so happy to¬ 
gether with their dear baby birds, that 
were now big enough to make homes 
for themselves. They loved the little 
cosy home. 

But it was time to leave it. Bar¬ 
tholomew had a few things to attend 
to before starting off on the long jour¬ 
ney. 

Jenny sat waiting for him to come 
for her. Why was he so long? All day 
long she waited, until the sun dropped 
down into the tree tops. Then she 
anxiously went to look for him. Poor 
little bird. All she found of him was 
his tiny precious head! A naughty 
cat had caught him and eaten him all 
up. She was so heartbroken she 
would have died on the spot, but the 


126 


THE MAGIC HOUSE 


same little old woman who had 
turned her into a bird appeared and 
changed her with her wand back to a 
little girl again. 

There she stood, right in the same 
place on the edge of the woods, that 
the little wicked fairy had found her. 

Hilda Watt ran all the way home to 
her mother—ran so fast the old witch 
hadn’t time to say “Jack Robinson.” 
And Hilda was so glad to be home 
again! So glad to see her mother, she 
never wished to be anything else but 
a good little, sweet little, kind little 
girl. 











Button — Button — IVho has the Button? 


“K-chinkity, k-chinkity, k-chinkity, 
k-chinkity.” 

Betty sat straight up in bed. What 
was that funny noise! 

“K-chinkity, k-chinkity, k-chinkity, 
k-chinkity.” It was all dark in the 
room, except for a ray of light that 
crept in from the hall. 

She rubbed her eyes to make sure 
she was awake. Yes, it was over in 
the corner—where Mother was sew¬ 
ing in the afternoon, while the chil¬ 
dren cut paper dolls. 

She must have forgotten her tin 
button box, for there it was, right on 
the floor under the chair where she 
had sat. 


127 


128 


THE MAGIC HOUSE 


Was the lid rising? Up it rose very 
slowly but very surely — something 
was peeping out—dozens and dozens 
of big round eyes—looking straight at 
her. Bang! Off went the lid and out 
popped the buttons—big ones, little 
ones, tiny ones, black ones, white 
ones, pearl ones and bone ones—all 
came tumbling out on the floor, one 
after the other. 

They had queer long, thin arms and 
spindley legs. All were racing about, 
pell-mell—then catching hold of each 
other’s hands, making a circle, sang, 

“Ring around a rosy, 

A pocket full of poseys, 

Hush, hush, hush. 

We all tumble down!” — K-Chinkity. 

Then off they go—“Pussy wants a 
corner,” or “Tag,” or “Hide and seek.” 
Such a frolic one never saw. Betty’s 


BUTTON, BUTTON, WHO HAS THE BUTTON? 129 

head swam so fast she had to lie down 
on her pillow. 

Then they scampered over to the 
bed. They reached up and caught 
tight hold of the fringe of the coun¬ 
terpane and climbed up on the foot 
of the brass bed. A great big, big, 
white, pearl button came puffing up 
last of all. “Such a climb up that 
quilt, and I’m not as spry as I was 
once! Been through too many wash¬ 
ings, and my eyes are not as good as 
they used to be, either!” 

The birthday doll, who always slept 
by Betty, crawled softly out from 
under the bed clothes and tiptoed 
down by the chattering buttons. 
Hush! What was she saying? So 
much noise would wake her little mis¬ 
tress! “Well, well, who are you?” 


130 


THE MAGIC HOUSE 


asked a little impudent black button. 

“I am Doll Rosey,” curtseyed the 
birthday doll very politely. “And 
when did you come here?” persisted 
the same little black button. 

“I came when the little fairy turned 
a key in Betty’s heart, changing the 
number from four and a half to 
five. That was last March. Next year 
the fairy will come again and turn it 
to six.” This made the buttons laugh 
so hard they all fell over backwards, 
heels over their heads, with a terrible 
k-chink. 

“Button, button, who has the but¬ 
ton?” They all scrambled back in 
their places on the foot of the bed and 
stared at Doll Rosey. 

“Who is that very uneasy button 
blinking its eyes all the time?” asked 


BUTTON, BUTTON, WHO HAS THE BUTTON? 131 

Doll Rosey. (She was perched on the 
knob of the foot rail.) “Oh, that is 
Priscilla Prink,” replied the biggest of 
all the buttons. “She always keeps 
to herself and is very proud and 
haughty, because she was once on 
Cinderella’s party dress. 

“She often tells us wonderful 
stories, though. The one we like best 
is about a little girl.” (Betty turned 
over, and all the little buttons fell 
over with a terrible k-chink.) “Go 
on,” reminded Doll Rosey. So all the 
buttons scrambled back to the foot 
rail, and the big button continued: 

“A little girl wished she could fly— 
fly way up in the clouds, and see all 
over the world. 

“One day she was sitting out under 
a big maple tree in the garden. Sud- 


132 


THE MAGIC HOUSE 


denly a little fairy stood right in front 
of her. She smiled up at the little girl 
and said, ‘What is your wish? I am 
the Wish Fairy/ 

“‘Oh!’ said little Esther (that was 
the little girl’s name), ‘I want so much 
to fly way up in the sky.’ She hardly 
had finished speaking when she found 
herself rising up in the air, higher and 
higher, just like the mist, and floated 
away—up through the clouds until 
she reached Cloud Land. 

“There was Mother Skyscraper 
scurrying about with a long taper, 
lighting the little stars, for it was 
growing dark. 

“Then Esther peeped down through 
the clouds at the earth. She saw all 
the little children just going to bed 
with their little white nighties on, and 
her Mother was calling her! 


BUTTON, BUTTON, WHO HAS THE BUTTON? 133 



The fairy steering her to her own front gate. 


“Little Esther felt very hungry and 
wanted her supper, but she wanted 
her mother more, for I think she was 
a tiny bit homesick. You know all lit¬ 
tle children want their mothers when 













134 


THE MAGIC HOUSE 


twilight comes creeping over the 
great sky. 

“She wished that the little Wish 
Fairy would come and take her home, 
and in less than half a second there 
was the Fairy steering her right down 
to her very own small front gate!” 

Up jumped a little round, fat, black 
button, “And who is that?” asked Doll 
Rosey. “Oh, that’s ‘Jetty.’ She was 
once on Red Riding Hood’s cloak, and 
there sitting right next to ‘Jetty’ is 
‘Roley,’ who was on Jack Sprat’s coat. 
‘Slip,’ who was on Miss Muffet’s dress, 
is always hopping about. ‘Whitie’ 
came off Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary’s 
gown, and ‘Oval’ was worn by Old 
Mother Hubbard when she went to 
the cupboard to get her poor dog a 
bone. ‘Stick’ was from the shoe of the 


BUTTON, BUTTON, WHO HAS THE BUTTON? 135 


Old Woman (who lived in that shoe), 
who had so many children, you know. 
While ‘Ruff’ belonged to Georgie 
Porgy, Puddin’ and Pie. ‘Hardy’ came 
off of Jack Horner’s trousers, and 
‘Pearl’ was from Rock-a-Bye Baby’s 
dear little white dress. ‘Greenie’ 
popped off of Peter, Peter, Pumpkin 
Eater’s coat, because he had such a fat 
stomach.” 

“Have all the buttons names?” asked 
Doll Rosey. “Indeed, yes,” replied the 
oldest of all the buttons, “and they all 
have wonderful histories. There is 
one that came from Alice in Wonder¬ 
land, and one that came from Peter 
Rabbit, and there is one of Little 
Black Sambo’s buttons that was on 
his beautiful red coat, and one of dear 
old Ratty’s buttons that he lost when 


136 


THE MAGIC HOUSE 


he was hunting for Moley in the wild 
wood. 

"Yes, there are buttons from the 
dresses of all the children you ever 
read about, or heard of, and if you 
had time they would each one tell you 
his story.” 

At that all the buttons jumped up, 
making such a k-chinkity, chink noise, 
shouting in chorus, "I’m first! I’m 
first!” Betty sat right up in bed and 
cried out, "Mother!” 

But Mother said, "It’s only the rain 
and hail, dear, bumping against the 
window pane. It’s been storming 
hard for hours. 


Sir Veter Swizzle 


Sir Peter Swizzle was a monkey—a 
little, tiny, brownish-gray monkey. 

He was born way down in South 
America, where it is sunny and warm. 

Peter loved to lie in his snug little 
bed that Mother Monkey made for 
him, way up in a tall palm tree. It 
swayed back and forth in the breeze, 
rocking him to sleep as though he 
were in a big cradle. 

Mr. and Mrs. Cebus only had one 
baby. They were young themselves, 
and it was with great pride that they 
showed little Peter to all the furry, 
chattering tribe. 

Each visitor brought a gift to the 
first born; there were small cocoanuts, 
gourd rattles, bones for him to cut his 

137 


138 


THE MAGIC HOUSE 


precious teeth on, figs and dates, and 
strings of bright red berries —these he 
liked best of all. 

When Peter was six weeks old his 
mother carried him out for a trip 
through a tall grove of banana trees. 
She carried him on her back, just as 
any mother might carry her baby. It 
was delightfully warm as she scram¬ 
bled on and on, way down along the 
big blue ocean. 

There was an enormous boat—she 
had never seen one before. She was 
very curious. 

Squatting down on a little clearing, 
high up on a bank where she could 
watch the people moving about, back 
and forth, back and forth, like a col¬ 
ony of busy ants, she watched them 
walk out on a long pier, across a plank 
and load the boat with cargo. 


SIR PETER SWIZZLE 


139 


Suddenly from behind, someone 
seized her baby monkey and ran, 
quick as a flash, down through the 
bushes and disappeared. 

Mother Cebus was so frightened she 
didn’t know what to do. Then, realiz¬ 
ing that little Peter was gone, she 
rose up on her hind feet and called— 
called and called most plaintively, but 
there was no answering cry. Terror 
seized her heart—she felt as if she 
would just die if she did not find her 
baby. 

So she tore wildly through the 
bushes in the direction that her little 
monkey had gone. Down, down, over 
tangled roots and marshy wet ground, 
until she reached a wide path. This 
she even ran down, even though she 
scented live people —that smell which 
always filled her with fear. 


140 


THE MAGIC HOUSE 


This road led right straight down 
to the dock she had been watching, 
but there were so many people stand¬ 
ing on it she slid into a thicket where 
she could watch and wait. The boat 
was moving out from the shore. 
Didn’t it look beautiful—like a great 
white bird gliding out over the soapy 
water. 

There on the upper deck stood a 
woman! Surely she was holding 
little Peter, cuddling him up tight in 
her arms! Yes, he looked safe and 
comfortable, and contented, too, but 
Mother Cebus wanted her first born 
more than she ever had wanted him 
in her life. 

Her one impulse was to rush down 
and plunge into the water and swim 
out after him. But she did not like 


SIR PETER SWIZZLE 141 

water, and then the boat was sailing 
so fast she knew she could never 
catch it. 

She sat sorrowfully watching the 
big steamer until it finally melted en¬ 
tirely away. There wasn’t even the 
tiniest speck of it anywhere. 

After silently sitting awhile, look¬ 
ing off longingly into space, she got 
up and climbed back up over the 
thickly wooded path, never stopping 
once until she reached her tree home. 
Father Monkey met her joyfully, for 
he had missed her, but when he dis¬ 
covered Peter was not with her he 
became very sad. Mother Monkey 
told him all about the experience they 
had just had, then hopelessly they 
laid down and cried themselves to 
sleep. 


142 


THE MAGIC HOUSE 


What happened to Peter? 

Well, on that big boat was a dear, 
sweet lady who never had had a baby 
of her own, and she thought she 
would just love a little monkey. 

She asked the captain of the boat if 
he could get her a very fine, rare 
monkey. 

He was sure he could, so he sent one 
of his men on shore, a native of South 
America, who knew the country and 
the habits of the animals. 

This South American was hunting 
around when he found Mother Cebus 
and her baby. He also knew there 
was nothing finer than a Cebus 
monkey. 

He didn’t make a sound as he 
walked through the woods. When 
he saw Mother Monkey he darted over 


SIR PETER SWIZZLE 


143 


and just snatched the babe right off 
the mother’s back and, quick as a 
flash, ran all the way down to the 
boat. 

My, wasn’t the Sweet Lady de¬ 
lighted with her prize, and she paid 
the native a whole lot of money! 

She treasured Peter so much she let 
him sleep right in her stateroom, in a 
little box that was lined with a soft, 
warm blanket, and fed him milk out 
of a tiny little bottle, just as a baby is 
fed. 

Peter loved to be petted, and he 
loved to be held in this Sweet Lady’s 
soft, warm lap. 

And so they sailed along for days 
and days, and had the very best of 
plays, until one day they landed in 
New York. 


144 


THE MAGIC HOUSE 


Then he was hustled and jostled 
ashore, and had to ride over such 
bumpy streets until they came to a 
beautiful big brown-stone house. 

Peter was carried out and put down 
in such a glorious glass room, filled 
with all kinds of growing plants and 
vines and sweet-smelling flowers. He 
was happy at once and pranced about 
with joy. 

Here he lived and played and slept. 
He would scamper up among the 
vines and climb way up to the very 
top of the greenhouse and peek out 
at the sky above. 

Sometimes his Sweet Lady would 
carry him into her living room, to 
play with him and introduce him to 
some of her friends. He always sat 
right down on the little chair at his 


SIR PETER SWIZZLE 


145 


Lady’s side, and drank a cup of tea 
out of a tiny tincup. Peter liked milk 
and sugar in his tea, and he never 
spilled a drop, either! He was very 
well behaved—would stand up on his 
hind legs and shake hands, and make 
a bow when the visitors took their 
leave. 

He had fourteen different suits, with 
hats to match! Peter loved to be 
dressed up; he loved to be taught 
tricks and, best of all, he loved his 
dear, Sweet Lady. 

When summer came, the Sweet 
Lady and her good husband always 
went way off in the mountains, where 
they lived in a small log cabin, right 
out in the woods. 

Of course they supposed Sir Peter 
Swizzle (as they called him) would 
just enjoy this. 


146 


THE MAGIC HOUSE 


So they had his little trunk packed 
with all his clothes and he traveled 
with them in a long train of cars that 
went crawling and puffing up through 
the mountains like a huge hissing 
dragon. 

It took many hours to reach their 
summer camp, so they were very tired 
before they heard the conductor call 
“West Port.” There they changed 
from the cars to a stage coach, that 
carried them twenty-five miles still 
farther—up, up, way up, along the 
trail to Mount Marcey, really the 
highest peak in the Adirondack 
Mountains. 

Here they lived in a little shack 
built out of rough logs. 

But Peter did not like the cabin—it 
was too cold. He shivered and cried, 


SIR PETER SWIZZLE 


147 


and coaxed to be taken back to his 
sunny glass house. 

The Sweet Lady and her husband 
could not understand his chattering. 
They expected to stay in those won¬ 
derful mountains many weeks. 

So one dark night, when all was 
very quiet and still (the Lady and her 
husband fast asleep), little Peter 
crawled out of his bed and crept along 
to the front door, that was always 
wide open. 

Away he ran, down through the 
deep, dense forest of pine trees and 
birches, trying to find his house. 

He ran all night, and all the next 
day, but he couldn’t find his home! 

Finally, when he was so weary, so 
hungry and footsore, he sat down to 
rest. He didn’t know which way to 


148 


THE MAGIC HOUSE 


turn, for he was lost—and all that was 
most dear to him was lost. 

He sniffed the wind; he put his ear 
down to the ground to hear any fa¬ 
miliar sound. But the wind told him 
nothing—the ground told him noth¬ 
ing. Then he put his little head in his 
hands and wept—wept so piteously 
that a little mother rabbit, who was 
out hunting food for her young, hur¬ 
ried over to Peter and brushed up 
close against him. 

He felt the soft, warm fur, and it 
made his heart jump—where had he 
ever rubbed close against such soft, 
warm fur? 

Peter couldn’t remember, but he 
knew he had a very comfortable feel¬ 
ing stealing all through him. Look¬ 
ing up, Molly Cotton Tail’s kind, anx- 


SIR PETER SWIZZLE 


149 


ious face gave him courage to tell her 
his sad plight. 

Molly thought a minute ; then said, 
“Come right along home with me. We 
will shelter you; we will gladly share 
our food and nice snug, warm house.” 

Peter was so forlorn and heartsick 
he agreed to do as Mother Rabbit 
asked, and he thanked her very 
politely and trotted right along with 
her to her rabbit warren. 

But when he found that she lived 
under the ground, down a deep, dark 
passageway, his courage failed! 

He was accustomed to the open and 
the treetops, but she called for him to 
follow, and as he was more afraid of 
being left behind, down he crawled 
after her. 

When they reached the bottom 


150 


THE MAGIC HOUSE 


there was a lovely light little room, so 
cosy and warm. Peter was overcome 
with delight, and in five minutes he 
was romping and playing with 
“Stumpy,” “Spotty” and “Speck,” 
Mother Rabbit’s three children. 

Soon Molly had a fine carrot stew 
ready, steaming hot, with delicious 
plump dumplings ready to pop right 
out.. My, how appetizing they did 
smell, and Peter was more hungry 
than he had realized. 

They all sat down to a neatly set 
table-white tablecloth and napkins; 
they ate with spoons, too. 

Then Mother Rabbit tucked them 
all in their comfortable little beds, 
and Peter was never so happy in his 
life, for Mother Rabbit kissed him 
good-night, right on his funny little 
wet mouth! 



Then Mother Rabbit tucked them all in their comfortable little beds 

151 































































































152 


THE MAGIC HOUSE 


Peter lay dreaming of his Sweet 
Lady and her husband. He had a 
longing for them, for he did love 
them. But he was so glad to find 
some furry folk to live with, who 
knew all about the big outdoors and 
the things only animals understand. 

All day long he chased about with 
the little bunnies, learning his lessons 
from Mother Rabbit—how to hunt, to 
freeze, and how to protect himself in 
case of danger. 

If one could only find the spot, way 
up on the side of the quiet old moun¬ 
tain, “Rooster Comb.” It’s a beauti¬ 
ful place!. A great rock guards the 
entrance to the grassy clearing, and 
there are five tall white birch trees 
that stand like white sentinel can¬ 
dles lighting the paths all about at 


SIR PETER SWIZZLE 


153 


night, and right there is where Sir 
Peter Swizzle lives, with “Molly Cot¬ 
ton Tail” and her three soft, fluffy 
little rabbits. And it is hard to tell 
which is the happiest! 
















































































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